Climate control protective safety vest and associated method

ABSTRACT

A climate control safety vest preferably includes a vest, impact shields, safety panel and a solar heating and cooling system. The impact shield may preferably be constructed using a lightweight, highly durable material such as Mylar, Kevlar and may preferably be a bright orange color and feature light-reflective strips or panels on the front and back. The vest preferably features a plurality of interior pockets that may be on the front, back and sides to house protective foam shields to protect the user from sharp objects and blunt force trauma. The solar heating and cooling system is connected to cooling fans/heating elements which would allow the user to activate and deactivate the heating and cooling functions of the vest. Such a vest may provide a user with an efficient means of staying comfortable in extreme hot or cold conditions while protecting him from sharp objects and blunt force traumas.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Applicationto Vern Minogue entitled “CLIMATE CONTROL SAFETY VEST AND ASSOCIATEDMETHOD,” Ser. No. 61/373,985, filed Aug. 16, 2010, now pending, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention relates generally to safety equipment and, snoreparticularly, to a safety vest.

2. State of the Art

Inventions are always a product of vision and creativity, whether theyare world changing inventions like cars or computers, or everydayconveniences like pump hairsprays, cordless tools, or re-sealable sodabottles. Some inventions present us with a product that is entirely new,like a cell phone; and before long, such an invention literally changesthe way we live. Other inventions combine two already-existing tools orproducts into one—a snow-scraper and brush, for example—thus reducingthe clutter in our lives, and making (in this example, at least) ourdaily winter chores a little easier.

Some inventions deal with common problems, as, for example, roll-ondeodorants deal with body odors; others—and again the cell phone is agood example—bring us so much convenience that we didn't know we neededthem until they came into being. Many, if not most, inventions consistof relatively small but highly effective improvements of existingproducts or technologies. Inventions come in so many categories thatcounting them all would be difficult—because you never know what mightbe invented today. Sometimes necessity, sometimes creativity, is themother of invention. All we can say for certain is that somewhere,someone is even now combining their own vision, imagination, andcreativity to create something that will improve, or even revolutionizeour lives.

Most inventions fill a relatively small need or perform a specialized,limited function—but if that need is shared by a sufficient number ofconsumers, the invention may have a great potential for success.Consider, for example, the millions of men and women who work outside onroad crews; as linemen for power, cable, and phone companies; and inassorted other occupations which place them not only out in hot and coldweather but in the vicinity of physical hazards including vehicletraffic. Typically, such workers wear brightly colored, reflectivesafety vests—but other than being highly visible, the vests actually dolittle to protect those who wear them, much less designed to enhance hisor her comfort in extreme hot and cold conditions.

Accordingly, a need remains for a device in order to overcome theabove-noted shortcomings.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to safety equipment and, moreparticularly, to a climate control safety vest for providing users withan efficient means of staying comfortable in extreme hot or coldconditions while protecting the user from sharp objects and blunt forcetraumas.

The present invention provides a climate control safety vest that isconvenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, versatilein its applications, and designed for providing a user with an efficientmeans of staying comfortable in extreme hot or cold conditions whileprotecting the user from sharp objects and blunt force traumas. Such aninvention would provide workers with a vest designed to enhance his orher safety, as well as comfort in all weather conditions.

The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a vest in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a back perspective view of the vest in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the vest in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

A detailed description of the hereinafter described embodiments of thedisclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way ofexemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures listedabove. Although certain embodiments are shown and described in detail,it should be understood that various changes and modifications may bemade without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The scopeof the present disclosure will in no way be limited to the number ofconstituting components, the materials thereof, the shapes thereof, therelative arrangement thereof, etc., and are disclosed simply as anexample of embodiments of the present disclosure.

As a preface to the detailed description, it should be noted that, asused in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms“a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents, unless the context clearlydictates otherwise.

The device of this invention is referred to generally in the Figures andis intended to provide a climate control, protective safety vest. Itshould be understood that the present invention may be used to comfortand protect many different types of outdoor workers and the like, andshould not be limited to the uses described herein.

Referring to the Figures general, a climate control safety vest 10preferably includes a vest 30; a solar heating and cooling system 40 andremovable, impact-absorbing protective panels 35. The vest 30 may bemade of a lightweight but highly durable material, such as, for example,Mylar or Kevlar or the like, may consist of one or more bright colors,such as, for example, a bright orange color, and featurelight-reflective strips 32 on the front and back.

The vest 30 may further be provided with a plurality of full-lengthpockets 34, for example, one in back of the vest 30 and two in the frontof the vest 30, one each for each of the front panels of the vest 30.These pockets 34 may be configured to accommodate a plurality of panels35 that comprise dedicated, form-fitting shock panels made of animpact-absorbing cellular foam material, designed to protect the wearerfrom impacts, sharp objects, and other sources of impact injury. Thepanel pockets 34 may preferably be closed securely with VELCRO®-equippedflaps. The pockets 34 may be positioned on the exterior or the interiorof the vest 30.

Along with its protective foam panel 35, as mentioned above, the rear ofthe vest 30 would also incorporate a full-length, meshed pocket 34,again equipped with a VELCRO® closure, opening from the top rear of thevest 30 and designed to accommodate another flexible, lightweight panel37. This removable panel 37 provides similar functions to the protectivefoam panel 35, but may also be fitted with a plurality of small electricventilation fans 28, and with a grid of electrically resistantheat-conducting wire 29. The fans 28 can be configured to draw air awayfrom the user or can be configured to draw air toward the user.Additionally, one fan 28 may be configured to draw air away from theuser, while another fan 28 may be configured to draw air toward theuser. Such a configuration may create an air flow effect within the vest30 and/or against the user's body. At the top of the panel, a plug 41would connect the fan/heater panel 37 to a solar-collector/photo-voltaiccell panel 27, comprising one or more photo-voltaic cells, stationedaround the outer collar of the vest 30; and a plug 41 on either side ofthe fan/heater panel 37 would be configured to be connected to twomating plugs 41 coupled to the vest 30, by a hook and loop fasteningsystem or other similar coupling loop, and connected to a similar wiregridwork running through the interior lining of the vest 30. Thus, thepockets 34 are configured to receive the protective foam panel 35, thefan/heater panel 37, or both at the same time. The pockets 34 can alsobe placed in the side portions of the vest 30, such that the pockets 34in the side portions can receive the foam panel 35. The pockets 34 maybe positioned on the exterior or the interior of the vest 30.

An On/Off and function switch 20 located on the collar of the vest 30may activate the photo-voltaic panel 27 and the relevant heating orcooling functions. The fans 28 would operate on electrical powergenerated by the cells located in the solar panel 27, and the heatinggrid would use the current generated by the cells to heat the interiorof the vest 30 via electrical resistance in the wiring of the grid, thewiring heating up in response to the current. The entire vest 30 can belined with a mesh fabric to maximize ventilation from the cooling fans28. In addition, the vest 30 may be produced in small, medium, large andextra-large sizes for men and women. The vest 30 may further beconfigured to have removable, or otherwise detachable, long-sleevescomprising pockets 34 along the length of the sleeves that areconfigured to receive and accommodate one or more of the panels 35. Thelong-sleeves may be adhered by zipper, Velcro®, or other knownattachment means, and may be removed or attached by the user as desired.The vest 30 may further be configured of a lightweight, breathablematerial, such as mesh, nylon, polyester, cotton, or other likematerial, such that the cooling fans 28 may create airflow through thevest 30. Additionally, the pockets 34 may be configured of alightweight, breathable material, such as mesh, nylon, polyester,cotton, or other like material, such that the cooling fans 28 may createairflow through the vest 30 and the pockets 34.

A solar heating and cooling system 40 comprising solar cells 27, aprocessor 22, and a user interface 21 is connected to the coolingfans/heating elements 28, 29 which would allow the user to activate anddeactivate the heating and cooling functions of the vest 30. The userinterface 21 may include a variety of stand-alone or shared devices thatare capable of generating and transmitting a control signal uponreceiving a user input.

For example, exemplary user interface devices may include a remotecontroller employing RE, infra-red, acoustic or cellular technology, forexample, as well known in the industry. The user interfaces 20 thusdescribed are intended to represent a broad category of exemplary userinterfaces capable of functioning in accordance with the presentinvention. Of course, the user interfaces 20 may include othercomponents, peripherals and software applications provided they arecompatible and capable of cooperating with remaining devices of thepresent invention. In addition, the user interfaces 20 may includeinformation, documents, data and files needed to provide functionalityand enable performance of methodologies in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the invention.

The user interface 21 preferably is communicatively coupled to aprocessor 22 which would analyze the signal and determine which functionto activate. The processor 22 may include a microprocessor or otherdevices capable of being programmed or configured to performcomputations and instruction processing in accordance with theinvention. Such other devices may include microcontrollers, digitalsignal processors (DSP), Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGA), application-specific integratedcircuits (ASIC), discrete gate logic, and/or other integrated circuits,hardware or firmware in lieu of or in addition to a microprocessor.

Functions and process steps described herein may be performed usingprogrammed computer devices and related hardware, peripherals, equipmentand networks. When programmed, the computing devices are configured toperform functions and carry out steps in accordance with principles ofthe invention. Such programming may comprise operating systems, softwareapplications, software modules, scripts, files, data, digital signalprocessors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC),discrete gate logic, or other hardware, firmware, or any conventionalprogrammable software, collectively referred to herein as a module.

The processor 22 may preferably be communicatively coupled with atransducer 24 that will serve to use the signal and activate the desiredpart of the device, which may be fans 28 or a heating source 29. Theprocessor 22 may preferably be connected to the plugs 41 andcommunicatively coupled to a rechargeable power source 26 and aplurality of photovoltaic cells 27. The rechargeable power source 26 maystore the electric power produced by the photovoltaic cells 27.

In use, the climate control safety vest 10 would be simple andstraightforward to use. First, the user would insert the foam shields 35in the pockets 34 of the vest 30. The user would then put on the vest 30as they would any normal safety vest. The solar panel/cell 27 on thecollar of the vest 30 would receive solar rays and transfer that energyto the cooling fans 28 or heating elements 29. If the user becomes hotor cold, he may use the power switch 20 to manually turn on or off thecooling fans 28 or heating elements 29 of the vest 30. The vest 30 mayfurther be configured with a temperature sensor 19 that senses theambient temperature or body temperature of the user and activates ordeactivates, accordingly, the heating and cooling system 40 of the vest30 in response to the sensed temperature. For example, the temperaturesensor 19 may be configured to communicate with the processor 22 tocommand the processor 22 to operate the cooling fans 28 if the sensedtemperature rises above a predetermined upper-limit temperature and tooperate the heating elements 29 if the sensed temperature falls below apredetermined lower-limit temperature.

In an alternative embodiment, the device 10 may feature LEDs on itsouter surface. The power source 26 would provide power to the LEDs atnight to light them up and cause them to flash. This embodiment would bevery useful to workers who work at night or in inclement weatherconditions. The LEDs would make the workers more visible to drivers,machine operators and other workers.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additionalfeatures of the invention that will be described hereinafter and whichwill form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

It is noted the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, especially theScientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The abstract is neither intended to define theinvention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is itintended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain specificembodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changesmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention. It is intended, therefore, by the appendedclaims to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

In particular, with respect to the above description, it is to berealized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of thepresent invention may include variations in size, materials, shape,form, function and manner of operation. The assembly and use of thepresent invention are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilledin the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A safety vest, the vest comprising: a vest body,the body having a front portion and a back portion, the vest body beingconfigured to be worn by a user such that the front portion ispositioned in front of the user and the back portion is positionedbehind the user; an impact panel releasably coupled to each of the frontand back portions; a rechargeable battery releasably coupled to the vestbody; a cooling device releasably coupled to the vest body andoperatively coupled to the battery; a heating device releasably coupledto the vest body and operatively coupled to the battery; and a solarpanel releasably coupled to the vest body and operatively coupled to thebattery.
 2. The safety vest of claim 1, wherein the vest body furthercomprises side portions, the side portions being configured to receiveand releasably couple thereto one or more impact panels.
 3. The safetyvest of claim 1, wherein the vest body further comprises a userinterface, the user interface being configured to receive input from theuser to operate the cooling and heating devices.
 4. The safety vest ofclaim 1, wherein the heating device and the cooling device are integralwith one or more impact panels.
 5. The safety vest of claim 1, whereinthe vest body further comprises pockets, wherein the pockets areconfigured to receive and retain one or more impact panels therein. 6.The safety vest of claim 1, wherein the impact panel comprisesimpact-absorbing cellular foam material.
 7. The safety vest of claim 1,wherein the heating device comprises electric resistance wiring, thewiring being configured within one or more impact panels or within aninner layer of the vest body, the wiring being operatively coupled tothe battery.
 8. The safety vest of claim 1, wherein the cooling devicecomprises one or more electric fans.
 9. The safety vest of claim 1,wherein the vest body further comprises one or more reflective strips.10. A safety vest, the vest comprising: a vest body, the vest bodyhaving a front portion, a back portion and side portions, the vest bodybeing configured to be worn by a user such that the front portion ispositioned in front of the user, the back portion is positioned behindthe user, and the side portions are positioned on the respective sidesof the user; exterior pockets positioned on the front, back, and sideportions of the vest body; impact panels configured to be releasablyinserted into one or more of the exterior pockets, each of the exteriorpockets being configured to retain and secure at least a respectiveimpact panel placed therein, the respective impact panel being of thesize and shape of the corresponding exterior pocket; a rechargeablebattery releasably coupled to the vest body; electric fans integral withone or more of the impact panels, each of the electric fans beingoperatively coupled to the battery and configured to cool the user whenin use; electric wiring integral with one or more of the impact panels,the wiring being operatively coupled to the battery and configured towarm the user when in use; and a solar panel releasably coupled to theback portion of the vest body and operatively coupled to the battery.11. The safety vest of claim 10, wherein the vest body further comprisesa user interface, the user interface being configured to receive inputfrom the user to operate the electric fans and electric wiring.
 12. Thesafety vest of claim 10, wherein the vest body further comprises atemperature sensor that senses a temperature and automatically activatesthe electric fans when the sensed temperature rises above apredetermined maximum temperature and automatically activates theelectric wiring when the sensed temperature falls below a predeterminedminimum temperature.
 13. The safety vest of claim 10, wherein the solarpanel is positioned in an upper region of the back portion of the vestbody so as to be in direct view of the sun even while the vest is in useby the user.
 14. The safety vest of claim 10, wherein electric fans arepositioned within multiple impact panels on the back portion of the vestbody, such that the electric fans ventilate the back portion of the vestover the user.
 15. The safety vest of claim 10, wherein three electricfans are positioned within an impact panel positioned in an upper regionof back portion of the vest body over the user's upper back and twoelectric fans are positioned within an impact panel positioned in alower region of back portion of the vest body over of the user's lowerback, and wherein the electric wiring is positioned within the impactpanel positioned in the lower region of the back portion of the vestbody over the user's lower back.
 16. The safety vest of claim 10,wherein the vest body and the pockets are comprised of a lightweight,breathable material, such that the electric fans can push or pull airthrough the material to ventilate the vest and the user.
 17. The safetyvest of claim 10, wherein the vest body further comprises lightsreleasably coupled to the vest body and operatively coupled to thebattery.